shamino

But unlike "classic" CarPlay, Apple doesn't completely control the interface.  Users can choose the manufacturer's interface, one of Apple's interfaces, or some custom mix of them.  At least that's what the Aston Martin demo showed.

So if the automaker thinks they can make a world-class interface, nobody is stopping them.  And if their customers agree, they will use it.  But if it sucks, the will change it to what they want.

And I think that's a lot of the resistance.  The worst thing (to them) they could possibly do is prove to the world that their own designers can't make something drivers actually want to use.  Apple is going to force them to put up or shut up.

I might even go so far as to say that this is why they no longer make cars where the radio can be swapped-out.  Because everybody knows that aftermarket radios from big audio manufacturers like Sony, Kenwood and Pioneer are lightyears better than anything any automaker bundles with the vehicle.

If anybody really cares, I'm sure they can subscribe via the web site and avoid the mobile app altogether.

And if not, why not?

It's illegal for me to draw pictures of copyrighted characters and sell the results.  And I have a legal right to view all of the source material (assuming I've bought or rented the movies).

An AI which is not just viewing content but incorporating it into its own software for the purpose of generating copyright-violating images should be a clear-cut case of infringement.

Sue these scammers for the maximum allowed by law.  Given the millions of images they've scraped without permission and the millions more they've generated for their customers, the fine should be enough to put them out of business and bankrupt everybody remotely related to the company.

Why in the world is AI needed for this.  Algorithmic playlist generation, like the Music Genome Project (used by Pandora) work great.  No need for massive neural nets and AI software.

Apple deliberately refused to use these algorithms in the past, claiming that human-curated lists would work better.  So apparently, they're now deciding that these humans aren't that good after all?  Or too expensive?

Sounds like it's all just a PR stunt.  If I want a computer-generated playlist, I really don't care what algorithm is used under the covers - I just want it to work.  And I assume that most people actually using the tool are going to have a similar opinion.  Advertising "AI" might generate some clickbait, but I doubt it will do much else.

Good review, and I'm glad to see Brother is still keeping up the series.

I'm currently using this model's predecessor, the HL-L3270CDW.  And before that I was using the HL-3140CDW.  They work well and don't cost a lot.  At least until an expensive part fails.

At some point, you will need to replace the waste toner cartridge and the belt unit.  These, together cost almost as much as a new printer.  My 3140 failed when the rubber coating on the fuser roller separated.  A replacement fuser unit actually cost more than a new printer, which is when I replaced it.

Regarding toner, yeah, it's not cheap.  But the cost per page isn't very different from what I used to spend on HP ink cartridges.  The current price on Amazon for a 4-pack (one of each color) of high yield cartridges is currently about $375.  Which is a lot more than what I paid the last time I ordered a set (February 2024), but significantly less than retail (Staples is showing about $450 for the same set).

Regarding the interface speed, I disagree that the slow USB speed doesn't matter.  If you print anything with a lot of bitmap graphics, it is going to be moving a lot of data.  I wouldn't want to push that much data over USB 2.0.  I use the Ethernet interface.  It is connected to a gigabit switch in my office, and everything works really well.  I'm rarely waiting for data to transfer.

I have disabled the on-board Wi-Fi.  No need for it.  My existing Wi-Fi router will forward traffic to the wired Ethernet part of my network to the printer.  This even works with Bonjour/AirPrint.

My only disappointment is the lack of product-specific device drivers.  Once upon a time, Brother had Mac drivers, which did a better job of things like color calibration.  But these days, the official documentation is to use Apple's generic AirPrint drivers (even for wired connections).  They work, but I think I'm not able to take advantage of everything the printer has to offer.

I agree with everybody else that this printer is not for photo printing.  It does an OK job if you buy glossy laser-printer paper, but no toner-based system is going to produce prints as good as a photo-inkjet printer.  But I print photos so rarely that I just take the JPG files to my local Walgreens when I need a good looking print.  For everything else, the Brother is quite sufficient.

But what's the point?  Higher resolutions?  But do people need or want TVs with more than 8K resolution in their homes?  More HDR?  Are people having problems with 10-bit video?  And why can't HDMI adopt 12-bit or higher depth?  More audio formats?  HDMI is already has support for any audio standard (Dolby Digital, Atmos, DTS, etc.) a media publisher is likely to use.

Sounds like a solution desperately in need of a problem.